The invention relates to an improvement of a holder for holding an article, such as a molded material or molding (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9carticlexe2x80x9d) to be attached to each of inner sides facing an interior of window frames in a vertical direction among frames surrounding a window of an automobile, and then attached along edge portions in the vertical direction of a window glass to be fitted into the window.
There has been known a holder H, having a structure as shown in FIG. 11, for holding an article M to be attached along each of edge portions in a vertical direction of a window glass to thereby cover, from the outside of an automobile, a space between each of the edge portions in the vertical direction of the window glass to be fitted into a window, to which a front window glass or a rear window glass is fitted, of the automobile and each of inner side portions Fa of frames F in a vertical direction of the automobile among frames constituting the window of the automobile.
The holder H includes a belt-like base 200 to be fixed to the inner side portion Fa of the frame F and a plurality of clips 300 disposed on a side opposite to a side of the base 200 to be fixed to the inner side portion Fa of the frame F with a space therebetween.
In the holder H as described above, an engaging portion Ma disposed on a back surface side of the article M is engaged with engaging claws 301 of the clips 300 so that the article M set along the edge portion in the vertical direction of the window glass can be held.
However, in case the window glass to be fitted into the window of the automobile is curved to have a curved inner side on a passenger""s compartment side In in the vertical direction of the automobile, the article M to be attached to cover the space between the edge in the vertical direction of the window glass and the inner side portion Fa of the frame F is also curved and attached to a curved inner side on the passenger""s compartment side In. When the article M is curved as described above, the engaging portion Ma formed on the back surface side of the article M is not positioned on the same plane. Thus, in order to properly hold the article M to be attached in the curved state as described above by the conventional holder H, the holder H has to be structured such that attaching positions of the plural clips 300 to the base 200 are set corresponding to the curve so that the engaging claws 301 of the clips 300 provided to the base 200 are partly engaged with the engaging portion Ma of the article M over the lengthwise direction of the article M, respectively.
Thus, it has been difficult that the conventional holder H with this structure is commonly used for holding the articles M to be attached to various types of automobiles.
Also, in the conventional holder H, since the clips 300 are simply attached to the base 200, in case the curvatures in the vertical direction of the window glass of the automobile are not the same, for example, the curvature on a lower side of the window glass is large and becomes gradually smaller toward an upper side, a directional requirement is inevitably accompanied when the holder H structured to set the attaching positions of the plural clips 300 to the base 200 corresponding to the curve is attached to the frame F. Thus, in the conventional holder H, even in case the articles M to be attached to the same type of automobiles are held, the holder H for holding the article M to be attached along one edge on one side of the window glass can not be used for holding the article M to be attached along the other edge on the other side of the window glass.
In view of the above defects, the present invention has been made, and an object of the invention is to solve the disadvantages of the conventional technique, wherein, especially, even in case a window glass, edge portions in vertical direction of which are framed by the articles of this type, is curved to have a curved inner side on the passenger""s compartment side, engaging positions of a plurality of engaging portions with respect to the article are changed to hold the article corresponding to the curve, so that articles for plural kinds of automobiles can be held by holders having the same structure without problems, and also, the articles for framing both edges in the vertical direction of the window glass of the same automobile can be held without any problem by the holders of the same structure.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
In order to attain the above objects, according to a first aspect of the invention, an article holder includes the following structures (1) to (5):
(1) a holder for holding an article to be attached along each edge portion, in a vertical direction, of a window glass to be fitted into a window by attaching to an inner side portion directed to an inner side of the window of each frame in a vertical direction of an automobile for forming the window of the automobile;
(2) the holder including a base in a belt-like shape having an attaching surface on one surface thereof to be attached to the inner side portion of the frame;
(3) at least two clip members with a space therebetween in a lengthwise direction of the base on a surface side opposite to the attaching surface of the base;
(4) each of the at least two clip members including inserting portions for receiving therein projecting pieces having engaging projections provided on a back surface side of the article while elastically expanding as the article is attached and having engaging portions to engage the engaging projections of the projection pieces by rebounding at terminal positions to which the projection pieces are received; and
(5) each of the at least two clip members being rotatably assembled to the base to have a rotating axis in a direction crossing the surface of the base.
According to the structure, the inserting portions of each clip member of the holder attached to the frame receive therein the projecting pieces of the article in correspondence with the clip member while elastically expanding as the article is attached, and, at the same time, the inserting portions are elastically rebounded at the receiving terminal positions, so that the engaging portions are engaged with the engaging projections of the projection pieces.
In case the window glass to be fitted into the window of the automobile is curved to have the curved inner side on the passenger""s compartment side in the vertical direction of the automobile, the article to be attached to cover the space between the inner side portion of each frame and each edge portion in the vertical direction of the window glass is also attached to have the curved inner side on the passenger""s compartment side of the automobile. In case the article is curved as described above, the engaging projections of the respective projecting pieces corresponding to the at least two clip members of the holder and disposed at the back surface sides of the articles are not positioned on the same plane, either. However, according to the holder of the invention, since the at least two clip members are rotatably assembled to the base, respectively, even in case the engaging projections of the respective projecting pieces are not positioned on the same plane, as the projecting pieces are received in the inserting portions, the clip members are rotated according to depths by which the projecting pieces are inserted, so that the engaging projections of the projecting pieces can always be properly engaged with the engaging portions of the inserting portions.
As a result, according to the holder of the invention, by simply attaching the holder to the inner side portion of the frame, the article to be attached in a curved state can be properly held.
Also, in case curvatures in the vertical direction of the window glass of the automobile are not uniform in the upper and lower portions, for example, the curvature is large on a lower side of the window glass and is gradually reduced toward an upper side, one article to be attached along one edge portion in the vertical direction of the window glass and the other article to be attached along the other edge portion in the vertical direction of the window glass are held by the holders having the same structure without any problem. More specifically, since the clip members are rotatably assembled to the base, when the holder is attached to the inner side portion of the frame, there is no directional requirement such that either end of the base may be attached to the frame as an upper side. Thus, the articles attached to the edge portions on both sides of the window glass having non-uniform curvatures can be properly held by the holders having the same structure.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the inserting portion of the article holder of the first aspect includes a pair of holding parts for receiving therein the projecting piece having the engaging projection while elastically expanding as the article is set, and the engaging portion provided at at least one side of the pair of the holding parts to engage the engaging projection of the projecting piece by the rebounded force of the holding parts at a terminal position of receiving the projecting piece.
According to the structure, each projecting piece of the article provided corresponding to each clip member can be received in a space between the pair of holding parts in the clip member of the holder attached to the frame while elastically expanding the space as the article is attached, and, at the same time, the pair of holding parts are rebounded at the terminal position to which the projecting piece is received between the pair of holding parts to thereby allow the engaging portions of the holding parts to engage the engaging projection of the projecting piece.
In case the window glass to be fitted into the window of the automobile is curved to have the curved inner side on the passenger""s compartment side in the vertical direction of the automobile, the article to be attached to close the space between the inner side portion of each frame and each edge portion in the vertical direction of the window glass is also attached to have the curved inner side on the passenger""s compartment side of the automobile. In case the article is curved as described above, the engaging projections of the respective projecting pieces disposed to the back surface side of the articles corresponding to the at least two clip members of the holder are not positioned on the same plane, either. However, according to the holder of the invention, since the at least two clip members are rotatably assembled to the base, respectively, even in case the engaging projections of the respective projecting pieces are not positioned on the same plane, as the projecting pieces are received between the pair of holding parts, the clip members are rotated according to the depths by which the projecting pieces are inserted, so that the engaging projections of the projecting pieces can always be properly engaged with the engaging portions of the holding parts.
As a result, according to the holder of the invention, by simply attaching the holder to the inner side portion of the frame, the article to be attached in a curved state can be properly held.
Also, in case curvatures in the vertical direction of the window glass of the automobile are not uniform in the upper and lower portions, for example, the curvature is large on the lower side of the window glass and is gradually reduced toward the upper side, an article to be attached along one edge portion and an article to be attached along the other edge portion in the vertical direction of the window glass are held by the holders having the same structure without any problem. More specifically, since the clip members are rotatably assembled to the base, when the holder attached to the inner side portion of the frame, there is no directional requirement such that either end of the base may be attached to the frame as an upper side. Thus, the articles to be attached along the edge portions on both sides of the window glass having non-uniform curvatures can be properly held by the holders having the same structure.
According to a third aspect of the invention, the base of the article holder described in the first aspect of the invention has a flexibility.
According to the structure as described above, even in case a surface of the inner side portion of the frame to which the holder is attached is curved to have the curved inner side on the inner side of the window, the holder can be properly attached along the inner side portion of the frame in a state where the base is curved to closely attach the attaching surface of the base to the surface of the inner side portion of the frame.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the clip member of the article holder as described in the first aspect includes a wobbling stopper which is pressed against the surface of the base in an elastically deformed state.
According to the structure as described above, the article held by the clip member can be held not to wobble in a widthwise direction of the article.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the base of the article holder as described in the first aspect of the invention includes a rotation control portion for controlling a rotation area of the clip member by abutting against a part of the clip member on the rotating forward side through rotation of the clip member.
According to the structure, the rotation area of the clip member can be controlled thereby not to rotate the clip member more than necessity.